Welcome to the Orthodox Church--its history, theology, worship, spirituality, and daily life. This friendly guide provides a comprehensive introduction to Orthodoxy, but with a twist: readers learn by making a series of visits to a fictitious church, and get to know the faith as new Christians did for most of history, by immersion. Mathews-Green provides commentary and explanations on everything from how to venerate an icon, the Orthodox understanding of the atonement, to the Lenten significance of tofu. It's the perfect book for inquirers and newcomers, but even readers who have been Orthodox all their lives say they learned things they never knew before. Enjoyable, easy-to-read, and leavened with humor, Welcome to the Orthodox Church is a gracious guide to the ancient faith of the Christian East.

Mathewes-Green opens up The Gospel of Mary to see her early life, offering a window into her centrality to the Christian Faith in new and sometimes startling ways. Christians have alternatively raised the status of the mother of Jesus to that of her Son or ignored her entirely. Behind all of the images is a girl who grew up to be the mother of Christ.

- How did the first Christians view her?
- What were the commonly understood facts about the Blessed Mother's early life, before the Annunciation?
- How did Mary, the mother of Jesus, become the Theotokos?

This book gives some surprising insights.

For Protestants or Catholics seeking to understand Eastern Orthodoxy, the Cross is a good place to start. In the West a multitude of different views sprang up over the last millennium, but Orthodox Christian beliefs have remained unchanged. The contrast between those views is suggested by the two images on the book's cover, showing how differently the meaning of the Cross was understood, East and West.

Two Views of the Cross is a short, focused book, ideal for readers looking to grasp the overall picture (with some passages from Mathewes-Green's more-comprehensive classic, Welcome to the Orthodox Church). This volume adds a new title to Mathewes-Green's long list of helpful books about Eastern Orthodoxy. Looking at the Cross from Western and Eastern perspectives provides a concise introduction to the beautiful, mystical, and sometimes-surprising Orthodox faith.

Praise for Welcome to the Orthodox Church:

Lucid writing marked by a strong sense of humor, but never escaping from the deepest spiritual realities.

--Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Prof. of History, Baylor University

Completely accessible, but utterly honest...This is a wonderful book.

--Fr Andrew Louth, Prof. of Byzantine Studies, Durham University

Few authors can take the mystery, beauty, and often-daunting complexities of Orthodoxy and transform them in such an inviting path of spiritual journey.

--The Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield, Chancellor, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary

No one alive today has done more to introduce ordinary Americans to the wonders of the ancient faith than Frederica Mathewes-Green. If not for her, I doubt I would be Orthodox.

--Rod Dreher, Author, Senior Editor & blogger at The American Conservative

Why are modern Christians so indistinguishable from everyone else?
How come Christians who lived in times of bloody persecution were so heroic, while we who live in safety are not?
How could the first Christians fast valiantly, but we feel deprived without dessert?
How did New Testament believers pray without ceasing?
How could the early Christian martyrs actually forgive their torturers?
What did the Christians of the first centuries know that we don't?
That's what this book is about.
From the author:
When I look back at the process of writing The Illumined Heart, I'm amazed all over again at how God directed it. I wrote the whole thing in a week, the week before Christmas, in fact, which is so typically congested with last-minute errands, unpredicatable weather, aches and sniffles. For Orthodox Christians, it's also a week that we fast from meat and dairy, adding another ball to the juggling act. Yet somehow I started writing the book on Monday morning and completed it Sunday night, just fourteen minutes after the Christmas Eve service began. (I kept wondering where in the week I'd dawdled and lost that fourteen minutes.)
It's no wonder that I look at The Illumined Heart as the one out of all of my books that felt the most God-directed. Mostly, he told me when to shut up. For a cup-runneth-over writer like me, starting a book is like moving into mid-pregnancy and putting on those stretch-front trousers for the first time; they're like a license to eat. And knowing that I have room to write on and on, whatever comes to mind, makes for abundant, wandering prose. Yet The Illumined Heart is quiet, proportional, just-enough; it's like a jewel. It's no wonder that this is a personal favorite among my own books, and the one I must urge people to read. I'm pleased by the amount of good work it's done so far, and hope that it will continue to do much more.

In the earliest centuries of faith, Christians in the deserts of Palestine and Africa sought a short prayer that could be easily repeated, in order to acquire the habit of prayer without ceasing. The result was The Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. This jewel of Eastern Christianity aims at enabling a person to be in God's presence, rather than to focus on feelings or thoughts about God. The first section of The Jesus Prayer offers a concise overview of the history, theology, and spirituality of Orthodoxy, so that the Prayer can be understood in its native context. Following, is a conversational question-and-answer format that takes the reader through practical steps for adopting this profound practice in everyday life.

Experience the depth and beauty of an ancient prayer practice as it is celebrated in a modern monastic community

At the Church of the Transfiguration on Cape Cod, the Liturgy of the Hours is observed each day by the Community of Jesus, an ecumenical Christian community in the Benedictine monastic tradition. The Liturgy of the Hours is the heartbeat of everyday life, the pulse that sustains and nurtures the community. In this little book, all the richness of these ancient prayers is presented in a modified version for Christians everywhere. The Little Book of Hours provides four weeks of services, with three services for every day, and many additional collects and services. Learn how you can pray the hours in the midst of your busy life today.

Prayer is first and foremost about relationship, our relationship with God and our relationship with one another in the Body of Christ. These relationships fill our lives with meaning and purpose. Prayer, then, is not so much an exercise of piety as it is an exchange of love.

--from The Little Book of Hours

To learn more about the Community of Jesus visit www.communityofjesus.org.

The Classic Story of a Family's Pilgrimage
into the Orthodox Church

Veiled in the smoke of incense, the Eastern Orthodox Church has long been an enigma to the Western world. Yet, as Frederica Mathewes-Green discovered, it is a vital, living faith, rich in ritual beauty and steadfast in integrity. Utilizing the framework of the Orthodox calendar, Mathewes-Green chronicles a year in the life of her small Orthodox mission church, eloquently illustrating the joys and blessings an ancient faith can bring to the worshipers of today.

Discover how icons can become part of your own life of prayer.

Encounter twelve of the world's most significant Orthodox icons with one of today's best-loved spiritual writers as your guide.

The Open Door provides an open window into a radically different approach to spiritual formation, one that is more ancient/Eastern than modern/Western, one that feels refreshingly new as well as seasoned, rich, and time-tested. --Brian McLaren, author of Everything Must Change and A Generous Orthodoxy

Acclaimed author Frederica Mathewes-Green takes us through a typical Divine Liturgy in her little parish of Holy Cross in Baltimore, setting of her well-loved book Facing East. Interspersed with reflections on the liturgy and the Orthodox faith are accounts of adventures around the country. In all the places she visits and all the people she meets, Frederica finds insights about faith, American life, and what it means to be human, and she shares these insights with the wit, pathos, and folksy friendliness that have made her one of the most beloved spiritual writers in America.

Both sides in the debate agree that abortion is a miserable choice. How can we help women find Real Choices? This book examines resources and difficulties, and lets women who have had abortions talk about their reasons, and what could have made it possible to consider other choices.